Their mission was over. The long hard fight against evil finally over, Rangers across the known galaxy had welcomed a new age of peace. But evil has a funny way of showing back up. Now, beset by the very people they had sworn to protect, it is a dark world for the Power Rangers. This is the world of Power Rangers Zombies.
Chapter One
It was always just one noise. One out of place sound and Angel Grove turned from a peaceful place to hell.
Today was no different.
Tommy stealthily walked slowly down the wide alley. An all too familiar curved blade with a white tiger carved into the hilt in one hand, a desert eagle pistol in the other. It was the easiest way to protect himself from an attack. Out in the open was the new strategy. Enclosed close quarters battles got you killed. It had been three months since the dead began to rise. At first, no one could believe it. It wasn't something that happened. Evil alien tyrants and 100-foot tall monsters created from dark magic and technology were one thing, sure. But the next door neighbor becoming an almost unstoppable walking nightmare with the purpose of devouring flesh and eating brains, just wasn't something anybody was ready for.
Which was probably why the Space Rangers, earth's current defenders, fell so quickly. Tommy had heard that one of them had been bitten in the initial outbreak. From there, it spread to the rest while sitting aboard the Astro Megaship. The crater where the ship had crashed was littered with debris and remains.
With earth's champions gone, everything crumbled. The police were overrun, and whole cities began to feed the zombie's ranks. Parts of the government had begun to annex quarantine zones. Places where "important" people went to weather the storm. Completely abandoned by its government, the people changed into monsters close to zombies themselves. It was an "eat or be eaten" strategy for most.
It was for reason's like that that Tommy now armed himself accordingly. His battles with his fists and feet were mostly over.
His communicator went off in that ever familiar theme. Tommy cursed, his legs already in motion. How could he have been so stupid to not turn it to vibrate? He had seconds to higher ground. His legs began to pump fire as he cleared the alley.
"Tommy," came a faint whisper.
"Go ahead Billy," Tommy said between breaths. "Make it quick as I'm gonna have some company."
"Get to my house Tommy and hurry," he said the words matching his tone.
"It's going to take some time to detour my trail." Tommy grunted as he leapt over a fallen newsstand. Zombies relied on hearing and seeing their target, but for whatever reason could track a victim for almost a mile. Tommy assumed it was something in the olfactory, but he left the biology to Billy, he was specializing in paleontology before the outbreak.
"This is priority," Billy said. "Everyone is coming, the sooner the better.
Tommy pivoted hard, instinctively turning to the direction of Billy's. The whole team? That was a mistake and Billy should have known it. Bunching together didn't help the people still spread out across town trying to survive the undead plague. Without their powers, they were more in danger the more exposed. It just would take one gang with guns to do what six years of the nastiest aliens and their thousands of villains could never accomplish. Still, it had been almost two months since he had seen any of them so there was some joy from the thought. Tommy swore under his breath and reminded himself in the future to set his communicator to vibrate. Billy had never let any of the other rangers stay out of touch, continuing to rebuild the Morphing Grid after….. Zordon's death.
Zordon's death had that bittersweet effect on most people. It was a day that celebrated a great victory and a tragic loss. Tommy never let it show, but it hit him harder than most believed. Zordon was the first to trust Tommy after his betrayal, sharing his own life energy to sustain Tommy. He was like the father he had never had.
Lost in his thoughts he almost missed the zombie reaching out for him from around the corner of a building. The creature swung high which was lucky for Tommy. If it hadn't been within his direct level of eyesight, the zombie would have had him. He dove forward, folding the blade back against his own body, slashing the zombie across the thighs. Rolling through his momentum he stopped hard bringing Saba down against the back of the neck of the creature as it was still falling. He separated the head in one clean stroke.
Creature. That's what he had to call them to justify what he had to do. People didn't do this. Tommy had been sloppy, not with the kill, but in his alertness. How had the zombie even come that close to him? A power ranger?
Resuming his pace, he arrived in no time to a rundown house. The shingles were already coming apart and every window in the house was broken. A sign that only read "eet Home" hung haphazardly from the porch. The garage was eerily empty. Not that there wasn't a car in it, but that there were no tools, no loose pieces of trash or scattered leaves. Just completely empty.
It was the most beautiful sight Tommy could ask for.
He walked into the garage quietly lowering the door shut. He reached up pulling the emergency chain for the door's motor track and watched as the entire floor lowered into Billy's lab.
Billy looked up and smiled. Time had been more harsh on Billy than the other rangers. The months had ravaged Billy as he blamed himself for not discovering a cure or a weapon to combat their most deadly challenge ever. His physique had begun to show signs of much needed exercise. His hair was disheveled and it looked like he hadn't shave since day one of the outbreak. Still, he was family and the two embraced fiercely. Tommy made a mental note to grab some deodorant from a store the next time he came over.
"It's great to see you Tommy," Billy said warmly. "I had been getting lonely."
Tommy smiled in return and looked back behind the former blue ranger, his gaze falling on several still very much alive zombies strapped to beds. "What about those guys?"
"They don't talk much and they're not that good at chess."
Together, they walked deeper into the lab. Billy was a pack rat, and in doing so became the de facto historian of the Power Rangers as well as their scientist and inventor. Souvenirs from particularly tough battles littered the walls in between beakers, scientific journals and circuit boards. Tommy stopped at something of particular interest.
"The Rad Bug," Tommy gleaned, running his hand over the hood. "I didn't know you still had this."
"You don't just sell something like the Rad Bug."
Tommy laughed, "no you trade it in for that mustang convertible."
Billy shrugged his shoulders and continued digging through a crate. "You're the last one here. The rest of the team is in the living room."
Tommy smirked because in reality all of Billy's "rooms" were just separated by bed sheets. He heard them laughing before he finally parted the curtains. Instantly the troubles of the world left him. For just a moment in time, he was back with his best friends, just like in high school. Friends forged with the ultimate compassion for one another.
Except it wasn't the same. Trini was gone. She had died in an unfortunate car accident long before this. Jason stood there, scars raking his body. In the first weeks, Jason had taken his battle directly to the zombies. With no powers he attacked anything that came at him, his own personal mission to save the world. After almost losing an eye and being dragged out by the rest of the team he came to his senses drenched in his own blood and taking on a whole new meaning as the red ranger.
Zack, his head shaved, sat there laughing. If anything he had been the most unchanged. Zack always had the right thing to say. It had come in handy during his "womanizing" in college. After the peace summit and with no ranger responsibilities, he took on football and became one of the fastest running backs to ever set foot on a football field.
Then there was Kimberly. Where should he start? America's poster child after taking home five gold medals in the last Olympics, she had spent her time since endorsing fitness products and donating to charity programs. Tommy always regretted…
"Will you go in so I can share the good news," Billy nudged him holding a large boxy device.
The movement startled Tommy pitching him into the center of the room. Kimberly was already up hugging him. "Hey you, we were just wondering when you would get here."
"Hey Tommy," Zack chimed in.
Jason just nodded.
Trying to break the awkward silence, Zack switched focus back to Billy. "So what's in the box?"
"Nothing," Billy said, pushing his glasses back up on his face. "It's going to help us find something that can end this menace to humanity once and for all."
"You found a cure Billy?" Kimberly asked.
Frustration filled Billy's face. "No," he said. There's no vaccine to prevent the spread and once someone gets infected. They still are very much dead. They just don't stay down. But, I did find something that will give us an edge in combat. With enough time and effort, we can take back our town, our planet the way we know how."
Jason smacked his hands together. "That's what I'm talking about Billy. What did you find for us?"
Billy, rattled by Jason's outburst recomposed himself. "Actually, it's not for you Jason. It's only for Tommy."
Tommy looked up, "I don't need any edge, I have Saba still."
"Saba is a formidable weapon Tommy, even if he has lost his… personality," Billy replied. The blade had gone silent after the destruction of the thunderzords becoming as normal a blade as it could be considered. Tommy had held onto it because it felt wrong to do otherwise. "I found something much better."
Billy crossed his arms, drinking in the curiosity and questions from his teammates. "Tommy, I found the Dragon Power Coin."
To Be Continued...